NOTE: Much of the content for Port Lincoln is sourced from and copyright of Dive Adventures Australia.
Port Lincoln - Cage Diving With Great White Sharks
Mt Gambier - Cave Diving
Wreck - Ex-HMAS Hobart
Port Lincoln: Cage Dives - Great White Sharks
Port Lincoln is located on the Spencer Gulf, which empties into the Southern Ocean, the world’s last true marine wilderness. It is home to the most spectacular and rarest of the world’s sea creatures such as the blue whale, giant squid and Australian sea lions.
More importantly, it is the home of the ocean's ultimate predator otherwise known as the White Pointer Shark. There are very few locations in the world where you can access the Great White Shark as they are solitary oceanic creatures mostly inhabiting the open sea.
The Spencer Gulf empties into the mighty Southern Ocean and here the Great White reigns supreme, having no natural enemies other than man. These spectacular fish reside at the top of the food chain and normally feed on whales, seals and sea lions, culling the weak, sick and injured as opportunities present themselves.
Travel Information
Getting There: Port Lincoln is 652 km by road, and 45 minutes by air from Adelaide, South Australia's capital.
Climate: Diving with Great White Sharks is available from August to November & Jan to March of each year. Traveling during these periods will give you the highest probability of encountering these amazing creatures. The water temperature is usually a bit above 16°C (60°F) during the operating season.
Cage Dives - Great White Sharks
Your cage diving adventure begins at Port Lincoln Airport where the skipper will meet you. A short drive will deliver you to the Calypso Star at the Port Lincoln marina. This vessel is 17m of pure luxury with accommodation for eight plus two crew. Prior to arrival at the shark diving destination a short detour will be made to allow you to swim with, film and photograph our Australian Sea Lions (weather permitting).
Upon reaching the destination, the crew commence chumming the water with fish blood and offal. The Great White, like all sharks will literally smell this from miles away and quickly track it to its source.
This is where the action begins as they start feeding on the chum and offal in the water. Nothing is spared as these massive creatures test their teeth on everything including the boat and dive cage. Now it is time to enter the cage where you can meet your shark on a more personal level. The thrill of your first encounter with a great white shark in its natural environment will last a lifetime and the power and grace of this magnificent creature will leave you over-awed.
Travel aboard the Calypso Star, a fast motor cruiser of 57ft in full survey. This luxurious craft offers the ultimate in comfort and safety with the capacity to accommodate eight passengers on overnight charters. The ship runs both adventure cage dives with Great White Sharks and fishing charters off the South Australian coast.
The MV Calypso Star is fully equipped with ample refrigeration, live bait tanks, 3 separate cabins sleeping up to 8 in comfort and two bathrooms providing hot fresh water showers. All meals and refreshments are inclusive and the ship has an onboard cappuccino machine
Facilities:
Full electronics suite (radar, radio, ship to shore and satellite phone)
2 x twin share cabins, 1 x quad share cabin.
2 x hot & cold showers, 2 x toilets.
TV, DVD, Lounge and dining area.
The Calypso Star cruises at approx twenty knots, reducing the outward trip to your white shark viewing location at Neptune Islands to around two hours.
Click on the Logo to go to the Cave Divers Association of Australia website to obtain a wealth of information on Cave Diving in Australia, especially of course, each of the sites listed below.
Cave Divers Association of Australia
Dive Sites
The CDAA categorises divesites on four different levels due to their level of technical difficulty when diving. To dive in a site of a particular rating you need to be trained and certified to that level. In addition, some sites require prior experience in other locations of the same rating before access is granted. The four categories are Cavern, Sinkhole, Cave and Penetration.
Although the name of the categories have changed recently, Cavern/Sinkhole is the first level of training, followed by Cave and then Penetration. I can honestly say, the training provided by the Instructors at CDAA is outstanding - it has been arguably the most exciting, challenging and confidence building activity I have ever done with diving!
Of course, whilst most of these sites are in the Mt Gambier region some are also in Wellington, NSW and the Nullabor Plain, WA
Without training, the only site available to general scuba divers is Ewen Ponds.
Originally one of Australia's great naval destroyers, the ex-HMAS Hobart is now Australia's most accessible and exciting war wreck. Scuttled on November 5, 2002, at Yankalilla Bay, the ship is now a premier eco-tourism dive site, home to an array of marine flora and fauna and a declared a marine reserve. It's also a lasting memorial to the ship and its crew, and a valuable tourist attraction for South Australia.
A short 10 minute boat ride from Marina St Vincent, the Hobart enjoys underwater visibility of more than 10 metres most of the year. The water clarity, the massive fish populations and the giant vessel make this an exciting dive experience.
A total of 9 moorings have been installed. Five are for accredited dive tour operators and four for recreational divers using their own boat.
She lies in 30m of water, reaching to within 5m of the surface.
Length: 133.2 metres
Beam (width): 14.3 metres
Displacement: 4,720 tonnes
Click on a pic below to go to a Dive Centre that specialising in diving this wreck.
...or click on the ship below to got to the Dive Ex-HMAS Hobart website.
